Coronavirus outbreak seen at women’s prison

Facility has 188 cases between the staff and inmates

East Bay federal correctional facility slammed with at least 188 virus cases among the staff and inmates.

DUBLIN >> A COVID-19 outbreak — which activists had warned about months ago — has occurred at a federal women’s prison in Dublin, with 185 of its nearly 900 inmates infected, plus three staff members.

Activists from around the Bay Area sent letters in August and November to Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin, a lowsecurity federal correctional facility with an adjunct camp. Its inmates recently included celebrities Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, who were serving sentences related to the college admissions scandal.

As reported in November by this news organization, activists from major legal organizations, immigrant and prisoner rights groups sent letters warning officials about the dangers of the coronavirus in the prison. The letters challenged the U. S. Bureau of Prisons’ handling of the coronavirus and included signatures from the ACLU of Northern California, West Coast-based federal and county public defenders, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center of San Francisco and a number of other Bay Area nonprofits.

At the time of the letters, activists were aware of 14 confirmed cases among inmates and staff. As of the latest numbers posted on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, the Dublin site now has 185 confirmed cases among inmates, and three among staff.

The prison has a total of 885 female inmates; 775 at the FCI itself, and 90 at the camp.

In late October, the advocacy groups learned from prisoners about an outbreak and mass testing, which found positive results for “numerous” people. They also learned that Dublin officials apparently allowed a woman, who was quarantined in the special housing unit, to return to the general population before her positive COVID-19 test had been confirmed.

“The bottom line is these people are being held in custody by authorities responsible for their well-being. The CDC and scientists know how to prevent this disease, but (the inmates) are sitting in cages provided by the federal government,” said Valerie Zukin of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, who wrote the letter.

The letters painted a picture of widespread misery, uncertainty and unhealthy conditions in the federal prison. The bureau, they said, has “statutory and moral duties to provide for the safekeeping of people in its custody.”